American Academy of Pediatrics: In 2013-2014 an outbreak of
serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) disease occurred at a University in New
Jersey, affecting seven undergraduate students and a visiting high school
student. Because there was no MenB vaccine available in the United States, the
Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of an investigational vaccine
to control the outbreak. A study, “First Use of a Serogroup B Meningococcal Vaccine in the US in Response to a University Outbreak”
published in the May
2015 issue of Pediatrics (published online April 27), found that none of
the
5,502 at-risk people who received one or more doses of the vaccine,
developed
the disease. This suggested the vaccine may have helped protect the
vaccinated
people from meningococcal disease. However, a ninth unvaccinated person
who had
close contact with the university’s undergraduates developed a fatal
case of
serogroup B meningococcal disease after the vaccination campaign,
suggesting
that vaccinated individuals may still be carriers of serogroup B
meningococcal
bacteria.
